For all its post-doom brawn and bluster, Village of Dead Roads' first full-length, Dwelling in Doubt, offered a series of surprising series of dynamic twists and turns, suggestive of an unforeseen musical diversity and maturity, and oddly making its parts rather greater than the sum, if that makes any sense. So with the element of surprise replaced by higher expectations, the group's sophomore long-player, Desolation Will Destroy You, obviously had a steeper hill to climb, so to speak, when it emerged through the Meteor City label some three years later. This may explain why the Pennsylvania natives decided to wreath the album in a grimy film of sludgy feedback, as though to further conceal its secrets from casual ears, and regale only those willing to dig a little deeper with its once again hidden treasures. OK, so the results aren't exactly astonishing, to be honest, just habitually intriguing as the band proceeds to contrast dark and light, bruising riffs, and melodic flights across memorable tracks like "Chemical Restraint," "Of Sickness and "Separation," and the album climax, "Halo Becomes a Noose," featuring somber guitar chimes over a stately marching rhythm. Village of Dead Roads also shows a virtually inexhaustible imagination for ever-shifting riff sequences and about-turns on the likes of "Our Cold War," "Giving the Snake Its Venom," and "Leg to Stand On," rarely letting the listener's attention wander through to the finish. So even though most will agree that Desolation Will Destroy You can't quite match its predecessor's voluminous rate of creativity, it's close -- oh so close -- and that's more than good enough for a band playing at this level.